Inflatable ball



,May 2,1933; I w F, STUMPE 1,906,658

I NFLATABLE BALL Filed Dec. 28, 1929 //v vc/vro e.-

, Patented i i i 1 i f,

WALTER r. srnmm'zglor 's'r. LOUIS, mrssounr, j'nssienon 'r'o mmmnysrionmGoons MANUFACTURING COMPANY, on ST, LOUIS, mssoum, aooBronArrIon or IMISSOURI INFLATABLE BALL ApplicationnledDecember 26.1929. Serial at.416,416.

My invention relatesto, inflatable balls,

such as basketballsand footballs, of the type in'which the bladder.is'inflated by means of a valve secured to the coversome distance awayfrom the opening through which the bladder is inserted in the cover.

The invention has for. its principal object a a simple and inexpensiveconstruction, in

I which the bladder-is airtight and in which the ball will bouncetruly." The invention consists principally in the inflatable ball and inthe parts, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter describedand claimed.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. l is a plan ,viewof a portion of a gameball embodying my invention;and

Fig. 2 is a sectional viewonthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1. i

Secured to the usual cover 1; of leatheror like material, as bythreads'2, is a valve member indicated generally as 3. Said valve memberhas an, annular flange 4' at its end.

the cover 1 by a spacer member 5 consisting of a plurality of stripsofileather, rawhide or other suitable light but relatively hardmaterial. Said spacer member'alsocoVers the underside of said flange tokeep it from contact with the bladder. k

The valve member 3 also has an inwardly protruding hollow valve stem 6in which is mounted the valve (not shown in the drawing). Thehollowvalve stem 6 opens into a passageway 7 formed by alining holesiinthe spacer member and in the cover; and the flange'portion. & has aninteriorly threaded central hole, preferably of larger diameterthan thebore of the valve stern, in which is normally mounted threaded dust cap8. The dust cap 8, of course, may be removed for insertion of the outletpipe of-a suitable air pump- Mounted in'a'b1adder-9 of rubber, or thelike is an interiorly threaded annulus 10 of bladder and, if advisable,

outer. covering 11 of comparatively soft rub-.

metal or other suitablematerial (as jbakelite), said annulus beingvulcanized into. the

beranda vulcanizing patch 12.

The exterior of the valve stem is threaded protected by an be placed onthe valve stem and may be romoved therefrom in case the bladder isdefective, all without disturbing the valve mechanism. The constructioneliminates parts found and still the construction is airtight and en}tirely satisfactory in operation. The spacer member of. leather or otherrather hard ma terial has been found to greatly, increase the necessaryin other valve ball constructions,

distance that" the ball will bounce'when it strikes over the valve, sothat the ball will jump as high and as true when it hits over thevalve'as when it hits on any other portion.

. Obviously, numerous changes may b 'made without departingfrom theinvention and I do not wish to be limited to the precise constructionshown. What I claim is:

ing a cover, a valve member having an anmounting on said threaded valvestem.

2. An inflatable ball construction comprismg a cover, a valve memberhaving an an-' 1. An inflatable ball construction compris nular flangesecured to said. cover and a threadedvalve stem'extending into the ball,and a bladder having an interiorlythreaded annulus vulcanized in itswall for mounting on said threaded valvestem, said annulus being coveredby a protecting member of soft rubber.

3. An inflatable ball construction comprising a cover, a spacer memberof rather hard material on the inside of said cover and stitchedthereto, a valve member having an annular flange mounted in said spacermem- I ber and having a threaded valve stem extending into the ball, anda bladder having an interiorly threaded annulus secured in its Wall formounting on said threaded valve Stm:

Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, this 21st day of December, 1929. v i5WALTER F. STUMPE

